Emerging Emirati artist Farah Al Qasimi was born in Abu Dhabi in 1991, and studied photography and music at Yale University in the US. She is currently doing her masters in photography at the Yale School of Art. Qasimi is known for taking photographs that capture familiar places and moments from unusual perspectives to create thought-provoking artworks. In her latest show “Coming Up Roses” she has explored the uncertainties and uneasiness felt by young women as they step into adulthood. Through photographs and a video, the artist takes a playful look at that awkward transition, when a young girl is suddenly expected to look and behave in a certain way, and becomes self-conscious and aware of the gaze of others.
The women in Qasimi’s artworks seem to be lost in a fantasy world that is rich, colourful and full of possibilities, but there is also a darkness and sense of danger lurking in the background. Through these witty and satirical images, the artist comments on our contemporary society and the pressures on young people as they try to find a balance between fitting in and finding and asserting their own individuality.
Qasimi has highlighted the pressure of contemporary consumer culture on young girls with a set of large-scale works, featuring photographs of a skin whitening cream popular in the Middle East. “This work reflects a reality many women here have grown up with. There are rows after rows of skin bleaching creams and coloured contact lenses in stores, and TV advertisements sell white skin as the ultimate beauty goal. We're being told to desire things that aren't natural to our biology and don't reflect the racial and cultural diversity of the region,” Qasimi says.
She reiterates this point through photographs of a friend who is a confident, sports loving girl and does not worry about being out in the sun or getting some acne; of herself doing a headstand; and of a group of abaya-clad girls having fun on the beach. In other pictures the faces and bodies of her subjects are hidden behind blankets or foliage, or camouflaged by the colourful background as though avoiding the gaze of others. The movement and tension in their abstracted figures speak about the feeling of self-consciousness and vulnerability felt by a young girl as she enters womanhood.
Other photographs speak about the anxieties, ambiguities and aspirations of young women through symbolic imagery of butterflies, flowers, fruit-laden trees, a beauty salon, a man peering through some trees, and a shop selling traditional Arabian niqabs.
In the video, Qasimi explores her own environment, walking around in her home and garden at night, and focusing on various objects in a journey of self-discovery. In a scene heavy with symbolism, the artist coaxes a butterfly trapped inside the house to fly out of the window. The film ends with Qasimi standing on the beach, her abaya blowing in the breeze as she looks out at the vast ocean and the distant horizon.
Jyoti Kalsi is an arts-enthusiast based in Dubai.
“Coming Up Roses” will run at The Third Line until July 16.
